


Intermission

by piperh (IndulgentInferno)



Category: Original Work
Genre: Angst, F/F, Fluff, Pregnancy, Secrets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-26
Updated: 2018-08-26
Packaged: 2019-07-02 21:10:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15804648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IndulgentInferno/pseuds/piperh
Summary: as the curtains fall on the first act of their relationship, a couple’s lives are set to change forever as a secret is revealed.





	Intermission

**Author's Note:**

> this is a story i wrote a while back and it’s the first story of mine that i’ve ever been really proud of. i have grown as a writer since i finished this story but it feels right for it to be the first i upload.
> 
> please let me know what you think.

I don’t realise how late it is until the sudden vibrations coming from my phone snap me out of my daze. I see the notification from Matilda pop up and I already know what the message will say. _Hey baby. I know it’s late but I’m on my way home now, you know how rehearsals can be._ The thing is, she’s not wrong, I know how rehearsals are, for her they’re upbeat, loud and fun but for me they’re lonely and overbearing. I drown in the laughter of people I’ll never fit in with, pulled under the currents of their charisma.

_Hurry home, I have something to tell you._

As I read the words I typed, I quickly press the backspace button until no trace of the message is left. I don’t bother responding to the text, there’s no point, she’ll be home in five or ten minutes. Instead I put my phone aside and I quickly gather the pieces of catalogue I’ve left scattered on the coffee table and slip them into one of my text books laying nearby.

I turn back to my laptop and ignore the open tabs for bigger apartments, we’ll need some more space soon. I turn my attention back to marking the last of the assessments I set my students on ‘Nonconformity and Resistance throughout History’ _._

As soon as Matilda walks in the front door I hear her singing softly, as she makes her way into the room I make space beside me on the couch for her. I’m disappointed yet not surprised when she walks straight past me and into our bedroom. Not long after she reappears in the doorway, her hair still damp from her shower and drops of water sliding down her skin. I recognize the hoodie she’s wearing as one of my own. She slides into the space beside me and looks over my shoulder as I continue grading, her attention starting to drift as more time passes.  

While Matilda plays on her phone, I keep on working. Some part of me wants to ask how rehearsal went tonight but I couldn’t stand to hear the delight in her voice as she tells me about how happy her “theatre family” make her. Not right now anyway.

Part of my mind is screaming for me to tell her the news, the other is telling me to run and hide. I don’t know how I’m meant to tell her, her reaction could potentially be encouraging or it could make things a little tense. Even though everything that happened, was before Matilda and I started officially dating.  

I hear someone’s voice saying her name and don’t realise it’s mine until after she’s turned her attention back to me. As Matilda’s questioning eyes stare up into mine my heart skips a beat and I prepare myself for the words to come out, _don’t freak out but I have to tell you something, I –_ but instead I find myself turning my laptop towards her.

‘Do you remember how I set an assignment on nonconformity and resistance throughout history? Well this one on The Beat Generation is honestly one of the best reports I’ve read so far.’ She smiles and nods and I know that this doesn’t really interest her, but we chat anyway.

It’s not long until the conversation drifts from discussing my classes to the dispute between some of the ensemble and the director. _Well, at least act 1 is over,_ I hear her nonchalant sigh and I can’t help but think that she’s right. _Act 1 is over, but what comes next, when the curtain rises once more?_ I can still hear her speaking but everything is being drowned out by my own reprimanding thoughts and it’s not until she’s calling my name that I’m pulled from the waves of thought that are crashing around me.

‘Did you hear what I asked?’ Matilda asks a little critically.

I shake my head and apologize, she doesn’t push when I tell her I’ve got a lot on my mind and I’m thankful but also hoping for her to demand a proper answer. She continues only to invite me to a theatre movie night that’s on next week sometime, her voice is full of excitement but part of my heart sinks.

I smile and nod and even to me my excitement feels forced but she doesn’t seem to notice and continues on about her night. She reminds me that I have to buy my ticket for opening night by the end of the week and all of the other things that I signed myself up for in my endeavour to be a good partner.

Eventually the room floats back into silence and Matilda leaves me to finish grading alone when she goes to bed.

As I slip into the bed, being careful as to not wake Matilda, I look at the alarm clock settings on my phone and I notice the time, _1:47am,_ ticking away silently. My head hits the pillow and my gaze drifts from the ceiling to the sleeping form of Matilda besides me. Overflowing with anxieties of the future, I wonder how Matilda will react to this breach in the script. They may say that all the world’s a stage but neither of us would’ve seen this coming and I don’t trust my improvisation talent.

In sleep, like on stage, Matilda isn’t silent but rather quite talkative. The mumbled words fall from her mouth and under the blanket of her voice I silently fall asleep.

When my alarm wakes me Matilda is curled up beside me, her hair splayed out over my pillow as the glints of sunlight catches her highlights. I move her carefully and she stirs in my arms, her eyes still heavy as she grumbles something about it being too early and turns over to sleep again.

I stare at myself in the bathroom mirror and contemplate the coming changes, suddenly everything feels heavier. The dark circles under my eyes are more prominent than ever and my back aches with the weight of my fear. I drag myself away from the mirror and back into our bedroom to get dressed for work. None of the clothes I try on feel comfortable, they’re all too constricting. Finally giving up I pull on a pair of black jeans, my “cute t-shirt” as Matilda calls it, and my favourite jacket.

Matilda has found falling back to sleep impossible and is playing on her phone still under all of the covers. She watches me as I get ready, giggling to herself as I walk back into the bathroom to put the finishing touches on everything.

While I battle with my uncooperative hair she stands in the doorway smirking. ‘Sit down on the edge of the tub. I’ll fix it up for you.’

I smile and move to where she wants me, and her delicate fingers are cold as she parts my hair and starts on the first braid running down the side of my head. When both braids are finished she hugs me from behind and I hold her closer. I feel her step away, letting go of her I stand up and walk over to the basin to find my hairspray.

She’s back under the covers when I make my way back into the room. I grab my boots from the floor and sit on the edge of the bed to put them on.

‘Matilda, I need to tell you something…’ I say, staring at the heel of my boot as I pick at a scratch in the leather.

Her eyebrows perk up and the spotlight is on me, ‘Baby, what’s going on?’

‘I’m pregnant.’ The words fall out before I can stop them and I can practically feel her disbelief.

When the silence becomes deafening I quickly walk out of the bedroom and gather everything I need for the day. Shutting the door to our apartment behind me I make my way to the safety of my car as quickly as possible, the entire way I’m hoping to hear Matilda behind me, demanding answers.

When I look at my phone I can see the stream of messages from Matilda start to flood in.

_Why did you leave before we could talk about this?_

_Tatianna?!_

_You can’t just drop a bombshell like that and walk out?_

_We have to talk about this!_

More and more messages follow but my phone is silenced while I drive.

Once I’m at school I take a moment to read all of the messages Matilda sent me. She is demanding a discussion when she gets home from rehearsals tonight and promises that we will work everything out.

I reply with a single sentence and walk to my office;

  _I love you._


End file.
